


shadow rises (and you are here)

by shishiswordsman



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Slavery, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood and Injury, Drowning, LawLu Big Bang 2018-2019, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pre-Relationship, Torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-09
Updated: 2019-03-23
Packaged: 2019-11-14 14:19:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18054119
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shishiswordsman/pseuds/shishiswordsman
Summary: During the time they've sailed and fought together, Law has learned more about his ally than is necessarily good for his health. Luffy is loud, brave, stubborn, incredibly strong, and really not as bad as most think he is. As their alliance nears its end, Law finds himself searching for a reason to renew it.What Law doesn't know, however, is that there's a burn hidden under the ever present red shirt Luffy wears. And it's shaped like the Hoof of the Soaring Dragon.





	1. dusk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> because i'm not creative enough to think up my own titles, the name for this fic is a line from [a song i really like](https://youtu.be/sepnIuRbYF4)
> 
> betaed by @ sootbird. thanks for making this readable, man :'D

The sun hangs low in the cloudy sky, slowly climbing higher and higher. Law's been standing there for a while, now.

It rained overnight, and the grass underneath his boots is still wet and slippery. The dew climbs up his pant legs, painting the strip of denim around his ankles in a darker shade of blue, and the colder winds blowing from the sea carry the taste of salt with them, cold enough that Law’d be freezing without his hoodie.

Law rather likes autumn islands. Not too cold, not too hot; neither fire nor ice, just perfectly chilly, quiet, calm.

The polished wood of the Sunny’s balustrade digs into his forearms — a reminder that he’s maybe stood there a moment too long — but Law doesn’t pay that much mind.

He runs his fingers along the railing. Here and there the Adam’s wood tells the tale of their most recent battle, the paint peeling, the wood broken off or burnt. Somewhere near the gunwale, Law can hear Franky repairing the Sunny untiringly, sometimes welding, sometimes hammering life back into the bruised ship. The Heart pirates’ own ship is much less damaged, underwater as it had been, but Law has still made sure Jean Bart and Uni would give her some much-needed love and attention, too.

It’s been a week since they watched Kaido fall from his pedestal, and Law’s still not sure if he actually made it out of that whole mess alive. He shouldn’t have, right? There’s no way they should have made it out of that, but then again there was no reason for them to make it out of Dressrosa, or for Luffy to escape Big Mom’s territory unscathed either. And yet that’s exactly what they’ve done.

The one person who connects all those events, and probably prevented all their deaths with the sheer force of his stupidity — _and, well, more stupidity_  — is the person dangling off the rigging by his feet, picking his nose.

Even after everything they've been through together, Luffy continues to amaze Law.

Nami has chosen their resting spot well, as far as Law can tell — not that she’s ever miscalculated before. The island is remote and peaceful, its populus generally neutral toward the idea of hosting notorious pirates on their shores. Which suits the allied pirates' needs more than well. Some rest will do them all good, and this island will be a safe place for it. Law is yet to set a foot on its soil, but he can already tell.

They'd docked so late last night that exploring would have done nothing but wake the people living in the island's only village, and it would do no one any good if the islanders decided to call the marines simply because some rubber idiot disturbed their beauty sleep.

So they’d agreed to wait until today  — the vote had been thirty against one; everyone else against Luffy —and as expected Luffy's already hopped on the island to explore the shore at least a couple of times, if the cool shiny rocks he's gathered and brought back for Chopper to admire are anything to go by.

The island is nothing out of the ordinary. In fact, Law can remember about half a dozen other islands he’s been on that could pretty much be carbon copies of the one they’re docked on now, up to a point where he can all but guess where every shop and bar will be just based on the lay of land he saw on those other, equally unremarkable islands.

Really, Law doesn’t see why Luffy was so excited about exploring when there’s absolutely nothing to, you know, _explore._

The Straw Hat captain has only been awake for a couple of days, and already his bandages are peeling off his limbs and sides, bruised brown skin peeking from underneath stained white. He's all over the place as he always is after sleeping for many days, jumping on walls and hanging off the rigging like a real monkey.

A part of Law wants to glue him to the main mast or cut off his limbs, see if that'd make him stay still. A different, less intelligent part of him thinks Luffy's enthusiasm is kind of cute.

Luffy’s side is still bandaged where Kaido’s horns had all but impaled him near the end of the fight, and Law can see his expression shifting cautiously sometimes when he overexerts himself, stretches too far. It must still be sore. It looks like it would be way more than just ‘sore’.

Law doesn’t know the extent of that injury — he’d had plenty of others to keep alive once the beast had fallen, and Chopper had been adamant to be the only one to care for Luffy. He often monopolizes his captain’s care, which Law doesn’t mind in the slightest. Chopper _is_ Luffy’s doctor, after all, and Law feels no need to challenge that.

At least Luffy doesn’t look like he’s suffering from any lingering pains, not with how he’s grinning and laughing even when his hold finally slips and he falls from the rigging directly onto Brook, the movement far too fluid to be accidental. It’s sometimes hard to keep in mind that the smiling teen sitting on Brook’s shoulders is the same person who a week ago stood tall in front of Kaido the Beast, laughed in the face of seemingly assured defeat.

Law’s glad Luffy was the one to find him first, that Luffy was the one he formed an alliance with instead of Hawkins or Bonney or, god forbid… Eustass Kid, even. That would have been even worse a disaster than his alliance with the Straw Hats.

It’s been good, the alliance.

A mouth blooms on the railing beside his arm, the disembodied lips curved in a smile. “Torao.” Law hates that he responds to the nickname with as much alacrity as he would to his actual name. Robin continues, “Sanji finished preparing our lunch boxes and Luffy’s getting rather insistent on getting off the ship. Are you ready to go?” she asks him.

 _No,_ Law thinks. He wants to stay, wants the Straw Hats to stay.

“Yes,” he says, tugging the brim of his hat to better cover his eyes. “Let’s go.”

All good things come to an end.

* * *

He ends up walking the streets with Bepo, Robin and Chopper.

Chopper takes Law’s hand and all but drags him to a small pharmacy, the only one on the entire island. Law can tell that they’re all in for a disappointment as soon as he lays eyes on the shack that’s supposed to supply them for the next stretch of sea in front of them, but Chopper is so excited that Law keeps his dry remarks to himself.

If anything good had come out of how injured they all were after Kaido, it was the fact that now Chopper’s doubly motivated to prepare well for next time. It was touch-and-go for a while, especially with the wounds Luffy had accrued, and Law could tell Chopper wanted to ensure that next time their chances would be much better.

Law’s not sure what he can do with what they have at hand here — Chopper is a genius, but he's working with nothing but air and good intentions.

Chopper bounces from one empty shelf to another, blabbering about how his infirmary is all but bare, carved hollow by the aftermath of the battle that led to Kaido’s defeat. And it isn’t like Law minds resupplying his own shelves either, but he’d prefer to do that someplace that has at least slightly more to choose from than two types of dressings and some disinfectant.

What is he supposed to do with those? Make a white flag out of them and hope the next people they face don’t give any of them injuries worse than a nose bleed?

And okay, Law knows that he shouldn’t be so negative. Bepo’s been on his case about it enough already — for the thousandth time, no, he’s not about to get sick, and no, he isn’t fucking hungry, leave him alone — and he’s right, as he usually is. Law should focus on the positive, should look forward and craft new plans now that they’ve accomplished all their goals.

He tries to do that, even though it does kind of seem to make Bepo even more worried for his health, and for some time it works. They meander from street to street in the small town, and at some point Chopper climbs up on Law’s shoulder, content to sniff the cold air from higher ground. The small doctor’s fur tickles Law’s ear, but he doesn’t mind. Chopper's weight and warmth against the exposed sliver of skin at the back of Law's neck is calming, really.

They’ve ventured away from Robin and Bepo at some point, carried away by a deep discussion on the potential of freezing sanguine sun stars before they’re ground into a paste, to see if that would improve the potency. The discussion is fruitful, as  talks with Chopper often are. It’s probably the only reason why Law hasn’t fucked off to sulk at the Polar Tang, really, though that option isn’t completely out of the question, either.

The gravel shifts beneath his every step, still wet from the rain. Bepo had told him earlier, when they’d been walking to the town and Law’s first mate had been grasping at straws to find something to distract his captain with, that there should be even more rain for the next few days; gathering tension that will mount into a storm by the week’s end.

Good thing they’ll be long gone before that happens.

“Torao? What do you think?” Chopper asks, snapping Law out of his reverie.

Law scowls. He hadn’t meant to ignore his younger colleague, but his thoughts are an attention grabbing mess these days; knocked askew by the gloom brought on by the alliance’s imminent end.

“I —” He starts, thinking he should apologise. He’s cut off before he even begins.

“Oi! Torao, Chopper, here you are!” An all too familiar voice calls out, and then something slams into Chopper. The younger doctor barely has time to transform into Kung Fu point before his captain whisks him away into the nearby ditch.

Chopper doesn’t seem genuinely upset about the ambush, though he doesn't exactly pull his punches or curses, either. Law watches, used to this particular brand of Straw Hat chaos.

Luffy gets up, chuckling and muttering some wholly insincere apologies. He rubs some dirt off his cheek. “What are you guys doing here? All the fun stuff is by the shore!”

“Fun stuff?” Chopper parrots, eager, and Law pays a bit closer attention too. By Luffy’s definition, fun and dangerous might as well be one and the same, and he’d rather not have to make a quick escape because the Straw Hat captain has decided to kill the islanders’ god or something.

It happens. More often than one might think.

“Yeah! There’s a bar and meat and some guy punched me!”

“Punched you?!” Chopper all but shrieks, jumping on Luffy’s shoulders to quickly inspect him for injuries. Luffy catches him with ease, strong arm gripping his doctor’s leg, balancing him when he threatens to fall in his hurry.

“Yeah!” he says, grinning. “It was awesome!”

Luffy looks up, as if spotting Law for the first time. “Are you guys done shopping?”

No, they’re definitely not done shopping. As much as Law loathes to say it, they really _should_ go to other shops too to try and scrounge up at least something akin to actual medical supplies.

Luffy doesn’t care. Before Law can get a word out, Luffy takes his hand, grin stretching from ear to ear. Law could swear there are stars in his eyes as he says, “Torao, this is so fun! I bet we’ll find something cool to do here! An adventure!”

Then, Luffy's tugging on his arm, shouting about some meat stand with enthusiasm that'd make the sun feel outshined, upstaged. He all but drags Law half across the island to a shabby looking stand, Chopper cheering with glee on his shoulder. It’s kind of pathetic how all it takes from him is one smile and a 'please?' for Law to give in to Luffy's whims.

He tells Luffy to buy one piece of meat, and Luffy buys what looks like an entire cow on a skewer. Law rolls his eyes, and pays. Begrudgingly, yes, but pays anyway.

Luffy's voice is like a siren song in his ears as they walk back, the younger swinging their joined hands back and forth wildly. Law’s wallet is lighter, but his heart soars. In passing, Law finds himself thinking that he’s wrong: Luffy’s no siren. A siren would be far less dangerous than this, closeness with Luffy. He’s a fly caught in a spider’s web, and Law should be terrified of that, of losing control to the future king.

Instead, he’s never felt so free.

Luffy walks beside him on a narrow stone fence, his arms spread out for balance. He’s rubbernecking at everything, jumping up and down. He’s taking up space with his pace and his presence; wide, insouciant waves of his hands and feet, loud and boisterous speech and laugh. He’s unapologetic in his glee, and something tightens in Law’s chest at the sight. Soon, he’ll have to give this up.

Chopper’s on his shoulders, now; having deemed his captain far too lively a steed. He’s reading an old newspaper they’d grabbed from some street corner, small hooves poking holes in the worn paper.

“Apparently, some people have been attacked close to us,” he tells them, a worried crease in his brow. “Should we double the watch tonight, Luffy?”

“Nah,” Luffy says without a hint of doubt. “If something attacks us, we’ll just beat it up. Right, Chopper?”

“Yeah! We took down Kaido!” Chopper agrees, “We’ll be fine!”

He hops down from Law's shoulders, transforms into Human Point mid jump just to flex jokingly. Luffy’s bright laughter caves him in half. Law watches this with a smile, folding the paper in the pocket of his coat.

By the time the sun starts to sink into the horizon, the pirates all begin to find their way into the town’s only inn. Law’s aching ribs complain from the long day, but Law tells them to shut up — he hasn’t even done anything today, so they don’t get to hurt. That’s his medical opinion, as his own doctor.

(He might be a good doctor, but he sure as hell isn’t the best patient.)

The Straw Hats and Hearts claim the biggest table in the inn, but it’s still not large enough to fit them all on it. That in itself isn’t such a big surprise, considering that they’re a group of almost forty pirates, all wanting to sit at the same table.

Law sits on a rickety old stool that wobbles whenever he takes a sip of his drink. He has watch later tonight, so he’s not drinking. The coffee he’s served is cold and bitter and kind of stale, but he wasn’t really expecting much more. If nothing else, the memory of this pseudo poison in coffee form will haunt him enough to keep him awake through the night.

Across the table from him, Luffy is talking with Zoro about the fight he found in town earlier.

(Apparently the guy who just happened to punch Luffy was a marine who’d tried to arrest him, and he hadn’t fared too well when Luffy had, surprise surprise, _punched back.)_

“Nice one, Captain,” Zoro commends, and Luffy slaps him on the back hard enough to split a mountain. Zoro flinches minutely, glaring at Luffy, “That was too hard, you bastard!”

Luffy’s resounding laugh is cut off by Zoro shoving his face into the enormous banana split he’s been in the process of devouring. It’s his fourth, so he’s been eating it at a slightly more languid pace in comparison to the usual, well... Can it be called a pace when the food is just gone immediately?

Law watches Luffy lick his lips briefly — there’s whipped cream all over his face — before he proceeds to absolutely fucking obliterate what little remains of his sundae. Law pushes his own toward the younger captain before Luffy even has the time to ask for it. He shrugs at Sanji's questioning look, and scowls at Nami's knowing one. She doesn't know anything.

“Aw, we need a new round,” Shachi whines, holding his empty sake bottle upside down.

Zoro hums agreeingly. “Yeah, I’m empty too.”

“So’s the bar and soon my wallet, if you idiots keep drinking like this,” Nami grumbles. “I’m not giving you any more money for booze, Zoro.”

The swordsman narrows his sole eye and mutters some choice words, but he doesn’t argue back. He’s known Nami too long to even try.

Law is still staring at Luffy, who’s busy stretching his tongue in an attempt to get all the whipped cream and chocolate sauce from his face. It’s grotesque, gross, and unnatural.

Law feels his cheeks flush. He clears his throat.

“I’ll get them,” he offers, getting up just in time for a half-eaten cherry to smack into the wall right where his face had been seconds ago.

The locals have mostly abandoned the bar for the night, deeming the visiting pirates too loud and rambunctious for their tastes. Only a few regulars have stayed behind, but at first glance they appear as though they haven’t left the bar for the last couple of decades; their bodies all but merged with the bar stools they occupy.

Law waits for his turn, absentmindedly toying with the string wrapped around Kikoku. They’ve been allied for, what, almost a year now, and in that time Law’s gotten to know more of Luffy than is necessarily good for his health. Law’s seen the casual displays of affection Luffy gives to his crew as easily as the wind creates ripples on the still sea, so he hadn’t thought much of it when Luffy had begun to get more insistent in his advances toward Law, too. A hug there, a piggyback ride here, a sloppy kiss on the cheek somewhere in between…

It hadn’t seemed like a big deal, and so Law had allowed himself to indulge in it. It’s not like Luffy’d actually fall for him, not for anyone; this is just who he is. While they certainly could be shaping up to be more than just friends, they’ve never gone past an innocent kiss or a slightly prolonged hug. They’ve slept together, but that’s been literally what it says on the tin: sleeping.

Law's pretty sure that's all there ever will be to his stupid, foolish crush. The one, only true love of Luffy's life is adventure, and danger is the only mistress he'll ever want for. This, Trafalgar Law knows for a fact.

Maybe he should order something stronger than coffee, too. A drink can’t hurt.

The bartender might as well be mistaking him for air, based on how little he seems to care, but Law doesn’t mind. He’s mostly here to give his idiotic sympathetic nervous system time to settle, for the blush to fuck off.

He overhears the conversation the bartender has with one of the patrons, and it sounds much like boring nonsense at first — some blabber about a local merchant cheating on his wife, and the murder attempt that followed getting dragged into the daylight.

It’s downright tedious for a man who fought a Yonko and lived to tell the tale. Until, it’s not. The topic changes, the men speaking in more hushed tones.

“People have been going missing, and a strange ship’s been in the area.” The bartender’s voice is gruff, worn by years of drunken yelling. ”It’s not just a merchant, I know that much. Merchant’s don’t steal folks from their homes.”

Law feels his eyebrows lower, and he leans in closer, pretending to be paying attention to the slip of crumpled paper serving as a menu. He picks it up only to find a disembodied ear hidden underneath. When Law looks over his shoulder, Robin is looking at him, smiling conspiratorially. Law moves his arm so that it hides the ear from sight, and he listens.

“— they’re lookin’ for somethin’, let me tell ya. Dunno what, but I hope they find it soon and fuck off from our waters.”

“Aye,” the patron says, thunking his tankard heavily against the bartender’s own. “Maybe they’re here for that scumbag fisher.”

“Yer still on his case for losing that poker game, ain’t ya?”

“I lost my fucking house, man —”

Law stops listening. He tilts his jaw down so that the brim of his hat casts a shadow over his eyes, and raps the lip of the bar counter with the hilt of his sword. Somehow, that gets the bartender’s attention without delay.

Law orders a round of sake for all of them, plus some extra, and he pays and leaves before the bartender can even begin to stammer about how there’s no way he can carry all of that to their tables.

He sits down, and the empty bottles are replaced with full ones in a flash of blue. The two crews cheer as their drinks are refilled, the decibel count nigh ear-shattering. The bartender’s jaw hangs open.

The music flowing from Brook’s violin is loud and cheery, lifting the already high spirits. Law meets eyes with Robin over the table. She’s smiling, lifts her wine glass up as though she’s toasting.

Law grabs himself a bottle of sake, and he toasts back even though partying is the last thing on his mind.

* * *

Law doesn’t sleep too well that night.

It’s not surprising — he saw it coming from miles away, really. He never sleeps very well when he has watch. Though he's sure Usopp will have no qualms about waking him if Law wasn't awake by the time his watch ends, the idea that he might miss his switch sits at the back of his head, demanding his attention too loudly for relaxation to take root.

His crew had offered to take watch in his stead, but Law had turned them down. It wasn't like he minded staying up — hell, he'd probably be doing that anyway. Besides, being the only person awake on a large ship, watching the still seas while his family sleeps peacefully around him, content in the knowledge that he will keep them safe while they dream...

Well, there are worse ways to spend a night, as far as Law’s concerned.

He's awake when the clock strikes three am and his watch is about to start. He rubs his eyes. Luffy’s cot is empty, Law notes when he walks past it, but pays it no mind. Maybe he’s taking a leak.

With a thick book tucked under one arm and a pot of coffee hanging by his fingertips, courtesy of Shachi, Law drags his feet. Stars light his way as he climbs to the crow’s nest, which is no easy task considering that he’d prefer not to bathe in scalding hot coffee in the process.

The night has been calm so far, Usopp tells him when he makes it up to the crow's nest; not even a bird in sight. Law settles in for a boring couple of hours that will be spent mostly with a book he bought on the island.

He doesn’t expect to see Luffy there, and by the time the younger captain climbs up into the crow’s nest Law’s just focused enough in his book to get caught off guard by him —  which is maybe not a good thing since he’s on watch. Law squints in the dark room, lit only by a sole candle he’s mounted on a stand beside the book.

“Torao!” Luffy chirps in a way of greeting as he hauls himself up. The word comes out a bit slurred, like Luffy’s speaking past a muffle, somehow.  Huh. The muffled speech might be somehow connected to the way Luffy’s cheeks are bulging like a chipmunk’s, a chicken bone sticking out from the corner of his mouth. “Robin gave me meat! She said I should take watch with you!”

“Did she?” Law wonders aloud. To be specific, he wonders if Robin told Luffy to join him because of the threat they’d both overheard at the bar earlier, or if Nami put her up to this. “Well, I appreciate your company, but I have things covered here.”

“Okay,” Luffy says simply. He turns, grabbing the doorway and looking to the grassy deck below. Moonlight casts his silhouette in a shroud of silver, and Law realises that this might be the only time he can get Luffy alone, separated from his nakama and relatively calm like this. He can't let the moment to slip through his fingers.

“Stay,” he says, rushing to get the words out before Luffy can jump down. (Or before he can chicken out.) “I… I would like to talk to you about something, Straw Hat-ya.”

“Yeah?” Luffy says. His neck turns 180 degrees, so that his body is facing the deck but his head is aimed at Law. It would be creepy, had Law not been so desensitized to it.

When Law gives no immediate reply, Luffy purses his lips, making a face. He sits down in the doorway to the crow’s nest, pulling one knee to his chest while his other foot dangles off the edge. He looks to Law and pats the plank floor beside him; an invitation.

Law squeezes himself into the scant space between Luffy’s body and the doorjamb, his elbow brushing against Luffy’s. The autumn island gets cold at night, and Luffy’s wearing nothing but a red tank top and his ever-present shorts, and he _must_ be cold. But Luffy's all smiles and warm skin against Law's. It's like sitting next to a radiator that never shuts up.

“What did you want to talk about?” Luffy asks, and Law realises he got lost in thought.

“Right. What do you want to do, now that we’re finished?” He has to drag the words out, almost. “What are you planning on doing, next?”

Luffy shrugs. “I kinda wanna sleep.”

“That’s not what I meant. I – _Our_ alliance was formed only to take down Kaido together. That goal has now been accomplished,” Law elaborates, watches as Luffy’s brows knit together above bright brown eyes. “Our alliance has run its course. We should part here, but I’m asking what you want to do.”

Law knows what he wants, or at least what he doesn’t want. He doesn’t want to part here. By the seas, there’s nothing he’d like less.

Luffy frowns in that infuriatingly childish way of his that tells Law that Luffy thinks he’s being a complete dullard. Then, he sticks his pinky up his nose and says, flatly; “Nope. We’re sticking together, I decided that a long time ago.”

 _Oh, thank fuck,_ Law thinks, says, “Alright. We can continue the alliance if it’s so important to you.”

Luffy’s laugh is easily given and like a blanket wrapping over Law’s shoulders. The younger captain reaches out with one hand, clumsy fingers grabbing Law’s chin and pulling, forcing him to turn his head so he faces Luffy.

Law does.

Luffy looks like happiness and freedom in a rubber container, and when he kisses Law it tastes like sea salt and stubbornness. Law’s eyes close without him telling them to, and his hand wraps around the back of Luffy’s neck, pulling him closer.

One day, they’ll have to sit down and talk about this, too. Whatever this is.

Today is _definitely_ not that day, though.

When they part, Luffy’s grinning, and there’s a smear of spit in the corner of his mouth. “Is that why you look like your head hurts? I get it, my head starts hurting when I think too hard, too.”

Law doesn’t even try to resist the temptation to roll his eyes — he’s talking to Luffy, after all. The odds of him noticing anything are not great.

Something clatters onto the quiet deck beneath them, and both captains still.

A second passes, but no one attacks. They're safe.

Law exhales, tense frame relaxing minutely. “Maybe a seagull,” he muses out loud, because his haki isn’t picking anything up. Luffy frowns, brows knitting together lightly. He doesn’t look convinced, and his observational haki is admittedly better out of the two of them.

Wind rustles the rigging. Somewhere, a rusty hinge creaks. Law didn’t think the Sunny had rusty hinges, not with Franky as her shipwright.

Luffy’s frown deepens. “I can’t sense anyone, but someone’s out there. I’m gonna go see.”

“Maybe it’s a sea king,” Law suggests, earning a smile from Luffy. The younger captain pushes his straw hat back onto his head before dropping down, knees bending on the impact. Law doesn’t bother joining him. Whatever it is down there, he’s sure it’s nothing Luffy can’t handle. He stands up, grabbing Kikoku more out of habit than caution, and watches as Luffy runs around on a wild goose chase. He darts from corner to corner, searching for anything unusual.

After a moment, he comes to a halt in the middle of the Sunny’s lawn, huffing impatiently. “There’s nothing here!” Luffy shouts, loud enough to wake the dead. Law shakes his head. “Hey! If there’s someone out there, can we just fight already? I’m tired!”

“So are our crewmates. Keep it down,” Law hisses at him, quiet enough to not bother the others but loud enough for Luffy to hear without issue. He squints, staring at the grass and planks they walk on every day. He knows the Sunny’s deck like the back of his hand at this point, which is probably not something to brag about. He’s spent too much time on this damn ship, but it’s handy now, makes spotting anything unusual easy.

“There,” Law says, pointing to a spot by the rudder where a small rock lies, inconspicuous. “That wasn’t there before.”

Luffy nods and bounces over to the unknown object. He picks it up, tilting his head from side to side. “But this is nothing! I’m just gonna throw it away, Torao!”

He’s still yelling. Nami’s actually going to kill them.

“Shut up,” he all but barks, “And don’t throw it away, are you an idiot?”

(Yes, he is.)

“Oh, okay,” Luffy agrees easily, asks, “Do you wanna see it?”

(Definitely an idiot.)

“No, I —” Law doesn’t have time to say anything more than that, because Luffy’s already reaching up, arm stretching to pull him back to the crow’s nest. “— don’t,” Law finishes lamely, when Luffy’s already crouching next to him, holding out the rock.

It’s a canister of sorts; sleek black metal, with a small disco ball painted on its side. Law leans away from it, his hand coming up to form the shape of a room. “Get that the fuck away from here, Straw Hat-ya! That’s a —”

Suddenly, plumes of red smoke start pouring out of the rock, and their fates are sealed.

Law gasps instinctively, holding his hands over his nose and mouth. Luffy lets out a surprised shriek, dropping the rock — though it isn’t a rock, and never was, Law realises. It’s a gas canister, and someone is attacking them.

The canister falls down, landing on the grass. Gas continues to pour from it, painting the air an ominous red.

Law coughs violently. He sways where he stands, leaning heavily on Kikoku. The damage has been done — he’s breathed in whatever the fuck they’ve been attacked with.

The gas almost glows; a weird shade of red that twists and twirls and pushes into Law’s lungs until it’s all he can feel, all he can see. The world blurs at the edges as whatever is in the gas begins to seep into his bloodstream. Distantly, a part of Law’s mind remembers the man’s words at the bar with crystal clarity.

People going missing, and a strange ship in the area, searching for something.

Hastily, Law swaps the air around him with air from higher up, where it’s still clear. The air is icy as he breathes it, now, and Law can feel his nose hairs freezing together. But there’s none of the red glow, none of the weird film in his mouth, and Law takes deep, greedy breaths. He can hear footsteps from below, followed by raucous laughter, some words he can’t make out.

Beside him, Luffy tenses. “Marines?” he mutters, frowning.

“No,” Law says, wearily. The gas still pulls at him, like a riptide dragging him down.

They’re not marines. Now that Law can make out the ship that has snuck up on them, he can see its torn sails and ashen hull. Definitely not a marine ship. There’s no Jolly Roger as far as Law can tell, so it’s definitely not even a pirate ship.

Bounty hunters, then? Or maybe some unfortunate thieves stupid enough to not recognise the Heart and Straw Hat pirate flags.

Luffy seems to follow his train of thought, arriving at the same station as Law: their attackers’ career choices hardly matter. What matters is that the others are still below deck, breathing in whatever this gas is, completely unaware of the danger and therefore vulnerable to it.

Luffy looks to Law, a hard sheen in his eyes, an urgency to his movements as he pulls himself closer to the doorway.

“Don’t,” Law tells him, grabbing Luffy by the arm. “There’s more gas down there.”

Luffy gives him a look from the corner of his eye, something Law can’t really name flickering on his face.

“I’ll be okay,” he says, and whatever it was is gone, now, replaced by a confident grin, “Poison and that sorta stuff doesn’t really work on me, remember? You rest here, Torao; I’ll take care of this.”

“Right.” Law nods.

Luffy gives him one more grin, and then he jumps down, raining fury on their attackers. Law sits in the crow’s nest, breathing heavily. It’s difficult to focus past the effect of the gas, but he tries; the gas is a bit thinner, now, and he has performed surgeries in literal war zones before. Focusing is kind of what he excels at.

He needs to get down there. Not because he thinks Luffy can’t take care of whoever’s attacked them, no, but to help their crews. They’re still sleeping, as far as Law can make out with his haki, and that means the gas is accumulating in their systems. Law felt like absolute shit after only a few measly breaths — he doesn’t want to think about what this stuff can do long-term.

He’s lucid enough that he thinks he’ll be able to maintain the room and continue to shamble himself clearer air from higher up, so he won’t breathe in more of the gas.

He peers down, sees Luffy amid the thick plumes of gas. Luffy’s standing tall, facing off with five or six men, his shoulders tense and his stance wide. He’s saying something, and Law should be able to hear him but doesn’t, not over the lingering roar of his pulse in his ears.

One of them looks up, points to Law. Law scowls and shambles the man overboard. Using his devil fruit while he’s still so lightheaded makes a swell of nausea rise from his gut, makes his vision spin again. Seeing Luffy’s proud grin makes it worth it.

He pushes himself to stand upright, makes to shamble himself down onto the deck. From the corner of his eye, Law sees Luffy’s expression morph into something more serious, something more urgent.

_“TORAO!”_

He hears Luffy yell, but he doesn’t see the blur of movement before it’s too late.

A split-second passes. Then, pain.

When Law looks down, an arrow is sticking out of his shoulder. His first reaction is to take a deep breath, and he stifles it too late — breath dragging in through his clenched teeth, already traveling down his trachea, filling his lungs.

He doesn’t realise he’s falling down from the crow’s nest until it’s too late.

He hits the deck hard, and yet there’s no pain – something soft broke his fall, but Law’s mind is far too addled to connect the dots. The room falls apart around him, coming undone at the seams, and he’s too caught up in the pain of the arrow to hold his breath.

The arrow in his flesh feels like it's laced in acid; the pain radiating from the wound is hot and all-consuming, and it’s with a delayed reaction that Law realises the arrow is made of sea stone. Must be. He feels like drowning. The gas pushes into his lungs again, and his thoughts turn sluggish, thick like molasses. Wading through them is like falling into the sea, and Law makes a frustrated sound. It sounds like a whine.

He feels hands on him, and for a second, Law panics, thinking it’s someone else. But the hands are warm and wet with someone’s blood, the fingertips soft. Luffy.

“You didn’t have to jump down, Torao,” he hears Luffy say, and he doubts Luffy’s slurring when he speaks, so it has to be his ears. “I had things covered here.”

“Fuck you,” Law says back. Luffy helps him sit up, and Law tries to reform the room, but finds he can’t. Why can’t he —

The sea stone arrow. _Right._

Law struggles to get up, but his brain and muscles seem to be communicating with a delay. Luffy gets up in his stead, standing to his full height. He sees Luffy shift his weight, sandals digging into the grass.

Law blinks, and suddenly Luffy’s on the other side of the ship, fighting. He blinks again, but he’s not sure how much time passes.

The last thing Law sees is Luffy. He stands still, knees buckling slightly, his stance lowering into something he’d adopt in the midst of battle. He’s yelling, and this must be a dream, right, because Law thinks he sees uncertainty flicker on Luffy’s face, round eyes widening with some sort of dawning realisation. His own eyelids feel like they weigh tonnes. His vision is all but gone, his surroundings having melted into one mottled black.

“Leave them. I’ll come with you.”

He thinks he hears that, spoken with Luffy’s voice; fearless as ever, unwavering. The defeat in the words is sharp, painful to hear, and it’s _wrong._ It contradicts, doesn’t fit the big picture — the battle-ready pose he saw, the angry edge to Luffy’s voice; the volatile, raw power that his ally exhales, exudes, embodies.

Law instantly doubts his ears. There’s no way what he heard is what Luffy’s actually saying, because Luffy would never give up, and he’d never bargain. Law must be hallucinating, already dreaming.

The world is beginning to get hazy, blurring at the edges, his vision filling with spots of black. Law hears someone laugh, calling Luffy by his epithet. He says something else, but it’s beyond Law’s comprehension.

He knows nothing of what happens after that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this fic is a part of the lawlu big bang of 2019! i'm very excited to share this with you all, as i've been working on it for a while now. the amazing art pieces my artist partners have created for it will be posted when the scenes in the fic are posted.
> 
> now, this fic will get a bit dark. nothing will be truly graphic (in my opinion, at least) but there will be some violence and generally bad times. i'll be putting warnings at the beginning of each chapter and tagging whatever i can think of, so please read responsibly. if anything i warn for makes you uncomfortable, click away.
> 
> i'll be posting this fic every two weeks, so the next update will be on the 23rd of march!
> 
> [tumblr](http://shishiswordsman.tumblr.com/) || [twitter](https://twitter.com/shishiswordsman)


	2. cold waters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> things get more dark and graphic in this chapter. if anything i've listed below can make you uncomfortable, i'd suggest finding something else to read for your own protection. if I missed any warnings or tags, please let me know so I can add them!
> 
> warnings: torture, threats, drowning, sort of graphic details of injuries and blood

When Law wakes, it's to darkness: all-encompassing and suffocating.

He feels himself frown, though he’s unsure why he’d be doing that — his mind is unreliable, thoughts stumbling over one another like newborn colts on unsteady legs.

He doesn't remember going to sleep. He also can’t recall deciding to pass out naked in a pile of snow, but he must have; his fingers prickle with frost, and his entire body aches. He tries to think of why that could be, but his mind is sluggish, and progressing from one thought to another is a momentous task.

Law groans, tries to push himself up. It’s a mistake; his muscles are stiff and lance after lance of pain shoots up his spine. It distracts him enough that it takes Law a moment to notice he’s been shackled. There’s a heavy weight around his wrists and ankles, the tell-tale sensation of sea stone against his skin.

Law jerks upright, body tensing, eyes wildly scouring the room he’s being held in from corner to corner.

He can’t see much; a small lantern is hung high from a hook embedded in the wall where he can’t hope to reach it. The lantern is dimmed by dust and dirt, but dozens of tiny lights paint the floor, flickering, moving back and forth like —

Like waves.

_Huh._

It’s only then that Law realises how utterly out of it he must be. Either that, or Luffy’s stupidity is contagious and now Law’s got a terminal case of idiotitis, too.

He has to be an idiot not to realise that he’s sitting in a small cell, with wooden floors and walls, the only interior decorating a set of heavy chains and about twenty centimetres of water coating the floor. How quaint.

It almost reaches Law’s lap, the water lapping at his thighs and soaking his jeans. The small room sways slightly, and Law can smell salt in the gloom. When he closes his eyes, he can hear the sounds of the sea outside, waves hitting wood. The sound makes the room feel hollow, like a space carved out from a block of wood that’s drifting in solitude from one comber to another. He’s definitely being held below deck, on some ship.

The memory of the rundown enemy ship flashes in his mind, then. Law mutters a curse. He can’t remember shit after blacking out, but he can feel the arrow wound in his shoulder with an acuteness that speaks of a wound left untreated.

He shifts his weight, tests the give of the manacles. A short chain connects them to a pipe that runs through the room, close enough to the floor to be half submerged in water. It’s thankfully loose enough for Law to sit comfortably with his arms by his sides, but still traps his arms firmly to the waterline, making it impossible for him to stand up.

Law hears a weak groan.

The pain from his shoulder and the overwhelming amount of both seawater and sea stone that surround him keep his haki locked away, his mind too muddled to focus enough to even think of using it. It means he can’t sense Luffy’s presence, and he can’t sense their captors’ presences either. But he recognises his ally’s voice, as Luffy slowly regains consciousness. He’s making sound. That's good. As long as he’s being loud and ostentatious, he must be fine.

Once his eyes have begun to somewhat adjust to the darkness, Law can make out Luffy’s silhouette. His ally is chained up similarly, his small frame slumped, head bare. He’s not sure — it’s too dark — but he doesn’t see his ally’s hat anywhere.

 _Perhaps it got left on the Sunny,_ a hopeful voice in the back of Law’s mind supplies. A less naïve thought suggests that if anything’s happened to the straw hat, Law might get to watch quite a blood bath. He’s not particularly opposed.

There’s a beat of silence, another groan. Law feels the water shift, hears the floorboards creak as Luffy wakes up, orienting himself to their new and cosy little home.

“Straw Hat-ya.” His voice is far more composed than his mental state.

“T’rao,” Luffy slurs. “Wha — I’m cold.”

“Must be bad, then. Are you hurt?”

There’s a beat of silence, and Law guesses — hopes — it means that Luffy’s taking stock; checking for injuries and ailments. He hears the water slosh around again, and then Luffy’s voice. “I’m okay. Where are we?”

“On a ship somewhere,” Law tells him. “I don't know any more than you do. We’ve been captured, I assume. Who attacked us?”

“Hm,” Luffy noises. He doesn’t say anything else, and a sense of wrongness fills the void left by the absence of sound.

There’s a tenseness in the air that sets Law on edge, makes a weight settle in his chest. If Law hadn’t known that Luffy was in a cage more often than not (Punk Hazard, Breed’s ship, Whole Cake island, Kaido’s prison… The list goes on) he might have thought that Luffy was nervous. But that in itself is just ridiculous.

“Did you hear me?” he asks, mostly just to get Luffy talking again. “And what happened after I passed out? I can’t remember.”

The tension increases, and Law sees Luffy turn his head away from him. Enough time passes that he thinks maybe Luffy’s ignoring him. Irate, Law opens his mouth to repeat the question.

“I’m fine, Torao,” Luffy tells him, promises, and Law can hear a grin in his tone now — far more reassuring than any words. “These bastards got us.”

“Yes, I gathered as much. Why? Who are they?”

“I don’t know,” Luffy finally answers, and he’s lying. Law knows this because Luffy’s a fucking awful liar.

“Who are they, Straw Hat-ya?”

“I don’t know, Torao!” Luffy snaps, huffing. “I said that already. They knocked you out and then told me they’d go below deck to get Zoro and the others, and I got mad and then... I guess they knocked me out, too.”

“Right,” Law says. He doesn’t pressure Luffy more, because the teen might be a terrible liar, but he’s stubborn enough to stick to the lie that it doesn’t really matter if the lie is more transparent than air. “Do you know what happened to the others?”

Luffy closes his eyes. His face scrunches in concentration for a second, and the exhale that follows is almost heaving, riding out on a frustrated groan. “I can’t use haki well with this stupid sea stone!” Luffy grumbles, eyes still shut. “I want to get out, Torao.”

“And you think I don’t?” Law quirks a brow, teasing. This earns a small laugh out of Luffy, who relaxes, closing his eyes.

“If I can’t sense them, that must be good, right?” he asks hopefully. “They’re still on the Sunny, then. That’s good.”

Law nods. If nothing else, he’s glad both his and Luffy’s crews are safe — free to move heaven and hell to find them. Which they will. They’ll get out of here in no time. He tells Luffy this, and instead of the resounding confidence that he’s expecting to hear, Luffy frowns, tugs at the chains around his wrists and ankles.

“That gas they had,” he starts, “D’ya think it’d knock them out even when they’re not sleeping? Zoro, too?”

“It seemed fairly potent, so I suppose it would. It did knock me out,” Law tells him. Luffy’s face falls, prompting him to add, “But I'm sure it's nothing Nose-ya and Tony-ya can't handle.”

Luffy nods, but doesn’t say anything more to that — just worries his lower lip, wiggling his toes in the frigid water.

Law can’t think of anything to talk about, either. All they need to do is survive and wait until their crews come bust them out, after all; nothing to get worked up about.

Law thinks he falls asleep, but he doesn’t notice getting tired, doesn’t remember closing his eyes. The soft sway of the ship and the dark, all engulfing silence trick him first into a haze, and then a slumber.

It feels like blinking. Time trickles through his thoughts, escaping him.

He’s woken by a sound, loud and sudden and so out of place in the stillness of the cell.

Somewhere outside of their private bath, a door clangs, rusty hinges complaining loudly. Luffy’s eyes flick first to Law, and then to the single door.

The footsteps get closer, and stop right outside. Several locks click and clang to the ground, and the door opens.

It’s not what Law expected, really; the men that enter have none of the finesse or presence Law assumed they'd have, considering that they managed to take down both himself and Luffy, of all people.

No; the goons that enter are burly, arms thick as tree trunks. There's five of them, as far as Law can see, all of them with faces even their mothers wouldn't call pretty. One of them gives Law a toothy smirk, eyeing him and Luffy in a way that puts Law on edge — these people don't exactly seem like the type to make sure their prisoners are treated in a humane fashion.

"Fucking hell, the water's cold," one of the men curses as they all step into the cell.

"Yeah, of course it is," one of the others says. "Maybe it'll wash the shit stains away here, eventually. I still see two."

Law fixes his features in a look of total and complete indifference. If their captors are trying to get a rise out of him, they're not going to get it. He assumes that won't be the case with Luffy, though; halfway expects for his reckless ally to start shouting and thrashing in his bonds, earning them both some bruises.

But Luffy’s quiet, bristling at the men with unhidden anger.

One of the men snorts out a laugh. “Well, we have time to spare. Might as well do a bit of clean up before Boss gets here.”

The other men echo their agreements, and Law figures they’re going to get those bruises without Luffy doing a single thing.

“Who the hell are you?” Luffy asks then, out of the blue. He doesn’t sound too bothered by the thinly veiled threat of violence; only bored, frustrated.

“None of your business, kid.” The man who complained about the cold water walks over to them. “Why’d we grab a fucking cabin boy, anyway?”

 _You cannot be this stupid,_ Law thinks, stifling a sudden urge to roll his eyes.

"Are you kidding, Ross?" The tallest of the men grouses. His voice is gruff, worn down by cigarettes and whiskey. “You fucking idiot. Boss told me who he is, when we picked ‘em up on the lion ship, see. That’s an emperor’s ship.” The man nudges Luffy’s thigh with the tip of his shoe, and the teenager bristles as he continues condescendingly, “This kid’s the fifth emperor.”

“No way! I’ve seen pictures of Straw Hat, and he’s this huge dude with black tattoos all over,” Ross insists, and two of the others nod. “This tiny brat? Looks like his mom’s out there crying for him, really.”

He must have seen pictures of Gear 4th, Law realises. The disconnect between the skinny teenager chained opposite to him and the giant he becomes with the aid of Goar 4th is definitely enough to convince an outsider that they’re not the same guy. Maybe they can use that to their advantage.

Not that Luffy’d ever let that sort of thing slide.

“I’m not a cabin boy,” he says, words dragging out with a growl. “I’m a captain.”

“We’ll see about that,” Ross hisses.

Without warning, he lurches forward, grabbing hold of Luffy’s chin and _squeezing,_ forcing Luffy to look up. He pulls out a long knife, brandishes it with skill and practiced ease, posing the tip of the blade in front of Luffy’s face, aimed between his eyes.

Law quirks a brow, smirking a little.

There’s a blur of movement. The knife clatters against the wall and then splashes into the water. Ross yells — angry, hurt, and surprised.

When he pulls back, Luffy’s grinning, and the corner of his mouth is painted red. Ross stumbles away from Luffy, closer to where Law’s chained. Law can see tooth marks on his cheek, smears of red dripping down his chin. He can’t imagine how anyone could ever mistake Luffy for someone powerless.

“Fucking _bitch!_ Pathetic, worthless rabid dog!” Ross curses.

Luffy gives him a thoroughly unimpressed look. “They didn’t even know I’m the captain, Torao,” he whines then, turning to Law instead of Ross. They all know he’s not a threat to them.

Ross slams the wall with his fist, interrupting him.

“I won’t be ignored by trash!” Ross growls, infuriated. He’s fished the rusty knife from the water, and he swings it in the air, almost blinded by anger and a wounded pride. “You’re fucking worthless,” he says, leaning closer. “You should di—”

He makes the mistake of getting too close to Luffy a second time.

Luffy slams his head forward, his forehead connecting solidly with Ross’s nose. The man falls on his back, holding his face, wailing with pain. Luffy’s face is positively painted red with Ross’s blood. Law can’t help but smile.

“Wha — What the fuck?”the man stammers, blood dripping down the starved curve of his chin, falling down his neck. He looks like he’s about to go off on a tirade, and Law’s attention catches on the knife once more.

Before Law can say anything, the tall man who’d walked in with Ross speaks. He’s got an air of dispassionate authority about him, something that tells Law that had Ross decided to really kill them here, this man wouldn’t have batted an eyelid.

 

“Get the hell out of here. You’re making a fool of yourself. They’re not worth it,” the taller man who’d came in with Ross says with an air of authority. He sounds bored, like he’s talking about dinner choices.

“No one told me they could still fight back!” Ross defends, cowardice blunting the edge of his anger into something more tame, an ire akin to begrudging disgust. “If he’s really the Fifth Emperor, then we should take him out now before he escapes. I’d love to give him back some of the hurtin’ he’s done to us.”

The tall guy scoffs. “Shut up. Bren went to get the Boss, so wipe the snot from your nose and try to look like you earned your pay for the day.”

There’s some more complaining from Ross as he wipes the blood from his face and glares at Luffy like he’s a fly he’d like to swat. Law watches, holding his hands underwater. The cuffs dig into his wrists and the seawater stings in the cuts, but Law hardly notices — the water hides his hands from sight, and if he has to break his thumbs to get out of these cuffs, he will. The water is freezing, but he hardly even feels the cold anymore. That’s kind of a warning sign.

He spares a glance at his ally. Luffy’s watching the water absently, dark eyes trained to where Law’s hands are hidden, but clearly unfocused. His lips are a thin line. Luffy notices Law’s stare, and it’s obvious that he makes a conscious effort into fixing a small smile on his face.

“I’m hungry, Torao,” Luffy croaks.

Law laughs, can’t help it — the words are such a welcome piece of normalcy after the haunted look he saw on Luffy’s face, and his eyes are shining again, even if it’s a bit muted.

“What do you expect me to do about that, Straw Hat-ya? I can’t turn into food,” Law remarks. “Ask our hosts, if you’re so hungry.”

“Oh, yeah! Are you gonna give us food?” Luffy yells now, aiming his words at the few men who still linger in the room. They’re waiting for the ‘Boss’; stone faces and faux intimidation.

Or, the others are stone faced, unflinching even as Luffy keeps asking for food. All, save Ross. He glowers at Luffy, but he doesn’t get a chance to do anything about it — a door slams in the distance, and then they hear two sets of footsteps.

The door to the cell opens, the rusty locks complaining as they’re forced to open a second time, and then, the man who’d gone to get their leader enters.

“Why didn’t you wait for me? I’m not paying you for being insubordinate bastards that leave their betters behind!!” A rough, almost shrill voice calls out. Then, someone is pushing their way past the henchmen, and, well.

Law kind of expected more.

The man who enters the room is tall and lanky, almost as skinny as Luffy’s musician. He reeks of old booze and bad decisions paired with an ego thirteen sizes too big, and his star-shaped sunglasses are cracked and bent — looking very much like they might fall off his nose any minute.

The man looks at the cell in distaste before turning to Luffy and Law. A wide smile spreads on his face. “Ah, here you are. It’s been a while.”

The man walks closer, hissing quiet invictives as he steps in the cold water, and leans down. His matted, unwashed lavender hair almost hits Law in the face. Law pulls back, eyeing the man appraisingly. Something about him is familiar, but he can’t quite put his finger on it.

“Who the hell are you?” Luffy asks, cutting to the chase. He’s looking at the man with open confusion. Law imagines that had his hands been free, he would be picking his nose right now.

“Do you not remember me?” The man sighs dramatically. He’s still smiling that unnervingly wide smile of his, the one he plastered on his face the second he laid eyes on his two captives. “What a shame.”

“Can’t say I recall you, no,” Law says, flatly. “Though I assume you know who we are?”

“Of course! Trafalgar Law and Monkey D. Luffy…” The man glances to Luffy, then Law. “You two ruined my life.”

The list of people whose lives they’ve ruined isn’t exactly on the short side, so Law’s still coming up empty on who’s chained them up.

The man knows them both, though, and seems to hold a personal grudge towards them. He says it’s been years, and with how young their alliance is it leaves a fairly narrow window of time where they could have ruined lives together; a small pool of people who could be behind this.

Some part of Law recognises the man, now.

“You were at the human auction house,” he says.

The man’s face lights up. “Yes! Of course you remember me — who wouldn’t?” He spreads his arms in the air dramatically. “My name is Disco, though I’m sure you remember that, too. I ran the auction house on Sabaody.”

“Of course. _Why_ wouldn’t we remember you.” Law barely resists the urge to roll his eyes. He laces his words with enough sarcasm that even Luffy notices, sharing a mischievous grin with Law.

“Dingo, hey!” Luffy calls out, making a mockery out of their captor’s name, “Why are we here? If you hurt our nakama, I’m gonna make you regret it!”

Disco acts as though he doesn’t hear a thing. Luffy yells louder. He sounds enraged, but there’s an undercurrent to the words, something volatile.

“Dingo! Don’t ignore me, you bastard! Are my nakama here too?!”

With the flick of Disco’s wrist, one of the men he’s hired delivers a hard kick to Luffy’s chin. It does absolutely nothing to stop the teen from yelling, however, and Law can see as the façade of a kind host chips away from Disco’s face bit by bit. The man draws in a quick breath, calming himself down, and then the creepy smile climbs back onto his lips.

He gestures to Luffy, but looks at Law. “You know, two years ago, I wouldn’t have even bothered looking at him. I wouldn’t have stepped foot on this horrible half-sinking ship.” Disco shakes his head, long hair swinging in one greasy mess. “I wouldn’t have done a great number of things. But that was before you showed up.”

He isn’t speaking to Luffy, aiming his words at Law and Law only. Something about that sets Law on edge, unease building at the bottom of his lungs. That sense of wrongness clamours for attention at the back of his mind — a warning, a distress signal, a plea — but Law can’t think of any reason for it. It puzzles him, and yet he’s not sure what about it is so troubling to him.

Something about this feels familiar.

“I’ve lost everything I worked so long to build, just because you had to go against someone so much better than you. No one,” Disco drags in a quick breath through clenched teeth, visibly putting in effort to restrain himself. The smile he crafts on his face is far more terrifying than the anger. “ _No one_ goes against the world nobles. No one.”

“I punched one of them,” Luffy says, his voice dark and proud. “He deserved it.”

“He deserved it?” Disco repeats incredulously. He lifts his foot up, shaking the cold water off his shoe. Law hopes they’re ruined beyond repair.

Luffy grins. “Yup. He shot Hacchan. Hacchan gave me food.”

Disco looks confused. “You should know better, Straw Hat. You hurt someone better than you without good reason, and then the world punishes you for it.” Disco makes a tutting sound. A pause.

“A shame, the war.”

Luffy says nothing, but there’s a flickering pressure in the air where he’s sitting, like a firing pin about to pop off a grenade. Disco remains blissfully ignorant.

“Because you couldn’t control your primitive urges, I was shot and left for dead. I lost my auction house, my reputation, my clientele…” Disco lets out a grim laugh. “Everything.”

“They shot you?” Luffy asks, as though he wasn’t right there when it happened. Then, he cocks his head. “Oh, yeah! Why would you want to help them, then? Aren’t you enemies? Dingo!”

“Shut up,” Disco hisses. “Don’t speak to me. You’re spoken to, if I need anything of you. _Shut up.”_

Luffy stills for a moment. “I can speak when I want to, Dingus.”

“Well, _I_ won’t be talked back to by someone like you,” Disco says to Luffy, voice dripping venom. “We’re on our way to Oriya Bay. Have you ever heard of it?”

Law’s body goes tense of its own volition, because he has. Oriya Bay is the largest slave trading port in the New World; famous for being even more heinous and unapologetic about its practices than the one on Sabaody Archipelago was on its worst days. If that’s where they’re going, it’s bad.

Opposite to Law, Luffy physically flinches when he hears the name. His eyes are blown wide with what looks like shock, and Law always knew how important freedom was to Luffy, but his reaction still catches him off guard.

Luffy’s lips pull back to make way for an angry grimace, and he growls, thrashing against the manacles around his wrists. Drops of water fly off the loops of the chain as Luffy pulls on his cuffs, and metal clanks against metal loudly. Blood runs in small rivulets down his forearms, now; small trickles that catch Law’s eye.

His breathe rushes, comes too quick and shallow, gasping when he’s not yelling. “I won’t let you take us there! Let me ‘n Torao go, _now!”_

There’s a pause: Luffy frothing at the mouth, Law watching, Disco smiling.

Before Law can react, Disco kicks Luffy. His foot connects with Luffy’s side, to where Law knows his shirt hides the wound from Kaido’s horn. The wound that almost took Luffy’s life.

Luffy howls like a hurt animal, but the shout is cut off, stifled. Luffy’s eyes are clenched shut, and a low hiss tears from his mouth as he sucks in shallow breaths, biting into his lip to keep quiet. Law can see his shirt darken as the bandages come undone, and half-healed wounds begin to bleed.

Disco stares him down, and Luffy glares back at him, unflinching, unblinking.

“I won’t be sold,” he says, and it comes out like a fact.

His tone is quiet and serious. People tend to listen when Luffy’s serious.

Disco reaches past Luffy’s shoulder, thin fingers like a spider’s legs against Luffy’s bright red shirt and bruised skin. He grabs a handful of Luffy’s shirt, tugging it, as if to pull it off.

He doesn’t get the chance.

Luffy drags in a sharp breath through his teeth, grimacing. He crunches his eyes shut, and when he opens them, his pupils are blown wide.

The air is electrified, and the water around him moves, like a wind has swept over the surface and left it flickering, small waves forming in a ring around Luffy.

Disco crumples like a marionette without its strings. He falls to his knees.

Law feels a strong tension in the air, his skin rising in goosebumps. A warm pressure pushes against his consciousness, intruding but not invading.

Conqueror’s haki.

Because of the sea stone, the burst of haki must have been far weaker than it would be on any other day — their captors’ mouths are clear of foam, and their eyes haven’t rolled back. Disco’s out of it for only a couple of seconds, and then he stumbles to his feet.

“How dare you, you… fucking scum!” Disco roars. He gets up, kicking at Luffy’s legs weakly. Luffy just stares at him without a word.

Disco seethes quietly, a flush climbing on his cheeks. The men he’s hired are gathering their bearings behind him, too. Law sees Ross laugh quietly.

Disco turns to them. “Leave us. I’ll call you if you’re required.”

The order comes out snarled more than said, and Disco accentuates it by putting his hand on his hip, where Law sees a pistol in its holster. The men filter out of the room.

They’re alone.

“Now, let’s try this again.” Disco walks over to them, stopping in front of Luffy.

As soon as he grabs a fistful of Luffy’s hair, Law knows what’s about to happen.

Shaky protests claw their way out of Law’s throat, but he might as well have said nothing at all. Disco doesn’t care.

Disco shoves Luffy down roughly, and then his face is submerged, his entire frame jerking and twisting to get away. Disco leers over him, like a man about to stomp out a cockroach.

“I already knew you lot, you _supernovas,”_ he says the word like a vile curse, “were worthless and just a temporary thing, but this? _Priceless.”_

“What are you talking about?” Law cuts in. He’s ignored.

With a cruel grin, Disco continues, “Imagine my surprise when I heard that you, the stupid brat who ruined my life’s work… That you’re one of _them?”_

Luffy shouts something, but the words are drowned in salt water. He manages to twist his neck in an unnatural angle, sneaking most of his mouth above water level. “— You,” he’s interrupted by a gurgling cough, water flooding his mouth with every word. “You fucker, don’t do it! It’s not yours to show, Ace said… I’ll kick your ass! I —”

Disco shoves his head more firmly underwater. He looks at Law. “Tell me, Trafalgar; when’s the last time you’ve seen Straw Hat without a shirt? Has he told you about it _?”_

“About what?” Law asks. He can’t take his eyes away from Luffy, who’s still trashing underwater, and he can’t help but churn through plan after plan in his head. Anything to get Luffy free.

Disco laughs, low and malicious. “So, you don’t know. How secretive of you, Straw Hat. Don’t you trust your ally?”

Law glares at Disco. “I don’t see how that concerns you.”

Anxiety gnaws at the back of Law’s mind, filled with an incipient, irrational fear about Monkey D. Luffy being defeated here —  by a fucking puddle too, of all things.

It sounds ridiculous as he thinks it, and Law relishes that because it _is_ ridiculous. Only last week, Luffy took on men five times his size and won without lifting a finger. Luffy doesn’t need his help; he never has.

But seconds turn to minutes, and Luffy’s struggles grow weaker.

Weakened by the sea stone and seawater, the future king is all but helpless. Bubbles climb to the surface of the water from where Luffy’s yelling even below water level. They pop, one by one, as Luffy’s air runs out.

Law can’t just sit there. “He’s no use to you dead, right? _Stop.”_

Disco’s eyes flick to Law, and his grin widens, takes on an edge of satisfaction that makes Law want to heave.

Luffy doesn’t move. The water no longer bubbles where his head is submerged. Law feels something tighten to the point of nearly breaking in his chest.

He strains to get his lungs to work. Inhales. Exhales. It does very little to calm him, and even less to convince himself of an illusion of power, but he feels more in control as he speaks next, voice and tone more measured, carefully constructed into a facade of indifference.

“I’m not an expert, but I’d imagine the going rate for devil fruit users drops drastically when they stop having a pulse.”

After seconds that feel like years, stretched thin in the small cell, Disco gives a curt nod, and he pulls Luffy up and out of the water.

Law forces himself to swallow his sigh  of relief.

Luffy’s eyes are rolled back to his head, his mouth agape as he coughs and gasps for breath. He’s completely waterlogged; bangs slicked to his face, water dripping from the corner of his mouth, from his nose. Law can’t stop looking at him, mesmerized by the heaving rise and fall of his ally’s chest.

Disco hums approvingly. “Well, now that he’s a bit more pacified, let’s try this again.”

With one swift motion, Disco reaches over Luffy’s shoulder again, pushing the teen’s body down, his face near the water, his back curved. For a moment, Law fears that Disco’s going to push him back below surface. Luffy’s still slumped in his chains and unable to defend himself. He might not be able to stop himself from breathing in the water.

“He’ll drown if you do that again; I’m a doctor, I can tell. Just leave,” Law snaps, bitter.

Their captor acts as if he didn’t hear. “I ask again. Do you know who you’ve allied with, Trafalgar Law?”

“The man who’ll kill you, once we’re free,” Law replies, darkly. “Luffy will become Pirate King.”

“I’ll take that as a no.” Disco flashes a terrible grin. “You hold so much trust in him; I almost feel sad for you. Straw Hat has strung you along all this time, and you’ve fallen for it! He’s deceived you.”

Law laughs humourlessly. “Well, now I know you’re fucking insane. That’s impossible.”

“Not at all. Allow me to enlighten you.”

Before Law can even realise it’s happening, Disco pulls Luffy’s shirt up, uncovering his back.

It takes a couple of seconds for Law to process what he’s seeing. His brain is short-circuiting, eyes widening. Because it hits him then, that he’s never seen Luffy’s back — not really, not in full. If he had, he definitely would have noticed this.

There, in the middle of Luffy’s upper back — almost perfectly juxtaposing the starburst scar on the teen’s chest — is a brand.

The Hoof of the Soaring Dragon.

Law’s seen many before.

It clicks in place, then; the condescending, patronising, belittling words, the scathing insults, the dehumanisation — the way their captors have treated Luffy as though he’s nothing more than a piece of trash to be discarded.

It’s exactly how the doctors used to speak to him, all those years ago when Corazon dragged him from one hospital to another.

The sinking weight grows tenfold, an anvil in his stomach, trapping his breath and words.

Luffy’s a former slave, and he didn't want Law to know.

“Aren’t you disgusted? I would be,” Disco says, shoving the nearly unconscious Luffy back against the wall. The teen’s head is lolling on his shoulder, wet bangs dripping water, framing his face. His eyes are open but unfocused. “How can you be allied with scum like this? Someone so much lower than any of us here?”

The anvil in the pit of Law’s stomach is melted into raw metal, burning its way to his core, burrowing there in a tight coil. Law forces himself to relax.

“The only one who disgusts me in this room is _you,”_ he says. His voice strains, belying the turmoil within. It’s hard to breathe, almost, knowing what he now knows, knowing where they’re going, knowing what’s going to happen. “You had no fucking right to do that.”

This strikes a chord with their captor. Disco springs forward, for the moment abandoning Luffy to where he’s still crumpled against the wall in shock. Law doubts that has nothing to do with the near-drowning.

“Right? _Right?_ ” Disco shouts, his voice rising, taking on a shrill edge that borders on insanity. “You think you have room to talk to me about rights after everything you’ve done?!”

Law says nothing back; refuses to dignify Disco’s bullshit with a response. He clenches his hands into fists, anger building within him now that the shock has begun to fade.

“I'm going to enjoy killing you. Or,” Law pauses, keeping his tone measured, composed into something calculative. Like he’s the one in control, and not their captor. He makes sure Disco's watching, sees the promise in the curve of Law's smirk.  “Perhaps Straw Hat-ya will tear you apart himself, instead.”

He steals a glance at Luffy, who’s blinking wearily. Water still drips on his face from his bangs.

Law closes his eyes, exhales. He hears the water slosh as Disco walks closer.

“That’s funny; death threats coming from a pirate. You’re wanted dead or alive,” Disco says, his voice a low, malicious drawl. He leans down, sitting on his haunches in front of Law.

In a move that makes Law want to rip his heart out, Disco reaches for him, runs his hand on the line of Law’s neck before gripping Law’s shoulder.

His fingers prod and squeeze at the arrow wound, digging in the barely formed scab. Law grits his teeth against the pain, feels the skin open and start to bleed. Disco relishes in it, his blunt nails digging into inflamed skin. “Yes, dead or alive. Have you ever wondered what those words mean, Trafalgar?”

“To be quite honest, I’ve been more interested in the bounty underneath it,” Law says, words carried out on a shallow breath. The pain is fresh and hot. It takes some effort to shut the pain away, focus on Disco. Focus on Luffy.

Law drags in a deep breath. A groan of pain escapes him on the exhale, still, and Disco laughs. “You’re pathetic, chained up like this. I could kill you right here.”

Law manages a mocking smile. “If you’ve been trying so far, I haven’t noticed.”

Disco’s fingers dig deeper into the wound, tearing and twisting. Law clenches his eyes shut against the fresh waves of pain, gritting his teeth.

“See? I could even kill you in front of the fucking Fleet Admiral, and no one would care. The moment a bounty was issued on both of you — on any miserable piece of trash that sails the seas, pillaging and raping and killing — you gave up any protection the World Government offered.”

Law thinks about Flevance; about innocent people doomed to die because no one could be bothered to help. He thinks of Ace, marked with death before he could talk, and he thinks of Luffy, with a grin that rivals the sun in its luminance, and a slave mark burned into his skin.

Sardonic laughter bubbles in his throat, completely devoid of humour. “When did they ever?”

Law can hear his own pulse. His vision blurs and sharpens as he fights off a wave of dizziness and nausea.

“Get away from him, Dingo.”

Luffy’s voice is a quiet growl, hoarse from almost drowning. He’s shivering, but Law can see him pull himself back together, forcing himself to calm, to still.

Something odd flits across Disco’s face before it’s swept away. He pushes his fingers deeper once more before pulling them away, the nails caked with blood.

“Luffy,” Law breathes.

Luffy avoids his eyes. He glares at Disco.

“I’ll end you, Dingo.” This, too, is a promise moulded from truth, said like premonition.

Disco doesn’t seem concerned. He clicks his tongue. “You can try, but we have you locked up pretty tight. Enjoy your time with Heart Stealer, _slave.”_

The word is spat out laced with venom and honey, and Law flinches hearing it. Luffy doesn’t even blink.

“It seems Trafalgar has somehow seen the brand on your back. Perhaps it’s time to call off the alliance, even! After all, who’d trust a slave with their life, let alone the lives of their crew?”

Law bristles. “I would.”

Luffy’s eyes flick to Law, and then away, into the water. A sinking weight settles in Law’s stomach.

Disco’s smile widens when he sees this. He walks away, slowly walking up the steps and opening the door. “We’ll arrive to Oryia Bay in five days’ time. Try not to die before I can sell you off.”

The door slams shut behind him, locks clicking in place.

They’re alone again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh boy... i'm a bad person, i know.
> 
> Disco is a canonical character, and he really did run the auction house. if it's been a while since you read/watched Sabaody, you can find information about him (including pictures) [here](https://onepiece.fandom.com/wiki/Disco#After%20Timeskip)! Ross however is an OC created purely for the purposes of this story and my horrible plans. He was named after Ross from F.R.I.E.N.D.S, after i watched some episodes of it one night and got irrationally angry at Ross for being a fuckboy. I've left Ross's description vague on purpose. If you really want to ruin the mood, imagine it's Ross from TV.
> 
> thanks for reading! all the kudos and comments for the first chapter really warmed my heart <3 this chapter was betaed by @ sootbird.
> 
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